Riders beat Lions to earn first Grey Cup appearance since 2013

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are back in the Grey Cup for the first time since 2013.

After trailing 21-14 in the fourth quarter, the Riders rallied to take a late lead and capture a 24-21 win over the BC Lions in the Western Final at Mosaic Stadium.

Quarterback Trevor Harris threw two touchdown passes, including a late one to Tommy Nield with 11 seconds left in the game. Kian Schaffer-Baker added a touchdown catch of his own.

BC Lions’ pivot Nathan Rourke made a handful of plays with his legs, including two rushing touchdowns and one passing, but was unable to prevent his team’s loss.

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The teams opened by trading a couple of punts, only Saskatchewan’s went all the way to the end zone for a single to open the scoring 1-0 in favour of the home team.

Both teams traded punts for most of the first quarter before BC put together a long drive. It started with a rushing first down by James Butler, then a Rourke-McInnis connection near midfield. A sack by Malik Carney made it second-and-15, but Rourke escaped the pocket and found Keon Hatcher Sr. for 16 yards and another first down. The drive stalled in Riders’ territory though, and kicker Sean Whyte came in to attempt a 42-yard field goal. The veteran ended hitting the uprights and the Riders held on to a 1-0 lead.

AJ Ouellette got the Riders on the move in the second quarter, hurdling a defender for a first down, but Saskatchewan eventually had to punt the ball back to BC after a pass on second-and-eight fell short of the sticks.

The Lions moved the ball down the field once again with under six minutes left in the first half. Rourke went deep for Hatcher Sr. for a 31-yard gain, before finding Ayden Eberhardt for 26 more yards on a play-action pass. Faced with second-and-goal two plays later, Rourke scrambled right, pump faked, then took off himself for the four-yard touchdown run.

The Riders forced a punt with under two minutes to go in the second quarter that gave their offence a chance to put points on the board. After a return set them at their own 40-yard line, the Riders went to work. Ouellette picked up a first down on the ground, then Harris connected with Dhel Duncan-Busby to move the ball into BC territory. The pivot then found the soft spot in the middle of the Lions defence for a 28-yard gain on a connection with Kian Schaffer-Baker. In the next set of downs, the visitors were able to force third-and-three, and Saskatchewan opted to send in Lauther to cut the lead to 7-4 going into halftime.

Saskatchewan started the second half with a bang. Harris found a wide open Joe Robustelli over the middle for a big gain, then maneuvered the pocket on the next play to find Duncan-Busby sliding over the middle to set up first-and-goal from the 20-yard line. After an incompletion on first down, Harris showcased his mobility by moving the chains with his legs. Ouellette then gained six yards on first-and-goal from the nine, before BC’s defence stopped the bruising running back on second down. Saskatchewan went for it on third-and-two and Harris found Schaffer-Baker in the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown. The extra point made it 11-7 with 10:01 remaining in the third quarter.

BC got the ball in scoring position after T.J. Lee forced a fumble on Ouellette and almost capitalized. Rourke connected with McInnis twice in a row to make it first-and-goal, then threw a short pass to Hatcher that hit the receiver in the hands, bounced off a defender and landed in the hands of Marcus Sayles for the interception.

Saskatchewan used the momentum from the turnover to add more points. Ouellette got things going on the ground, then Harris took over by connecting with Schaffer-Baker and Samuel Emilus to move into Lions territory. Deontai Williams tackled Ouellette on second down to stop the march, but Lauther extended the home team’s lead with a 34-yard field goal with 1:49 left in the third.

Rourke was determined to keep his team in the game, putting together a long scoring drive. The pivot kickstarted the possession by miraculously escaping pressure and connecting with Justin McInnis for 17 yards. A sack pushed the Leos back, but the quarterback clawed his way back, this time finding Jevon Cottoy for a 19-yard catch-and-run. Hatcher and Butler joined in the party with short gains, setting the offence up with second-and-six from the 19-yard line. Rourke dropped back, went through his progressions and found a wide open Hatcher in the end zone to tie the game at 14 with the point after by Whyte.

A quick punt by Saskatchewan gave BC an opportunity to take the lead. Rourke was once again surgical, completing four straight passes to get the Lions in scoring territory. Faced with second-and-nine after another sack by Saskatchewan, Rourke pulled a rabbit out of his hat and escaped another would-be takedown before flicking the ball to Butler for the first down. A couple of plays later, the pivot called his own number to score his second rushing touchdown of the evening.

The Riders responded with their own scoring drive. Harris went deep for Tommy Nield to advance the ball 31 yards, then connected with Emilus for 11 more yards. Two plays later, Saskatchewan was faced with third-and-five and elected to kick the field goal to make it 21-17 with the clock showing 2:44 to go.

Saskatchewan’s defence was able to force a quick punt, giving their offence the chance to take the lead back from BC. A second-and-10 incompletion led the Riders to punt the ball back to the visitors, but their defence was again came up in the clutch to force another punt by the Orange and Black.

With less than a minute to go, Harris got the ball back with a chance to win the game. The pivot immediately found Emilus deep for 23 yards just across midfield, then gained another first down on a connection with the Canadian receiver. Ouellette moved the chains once more with a short catch, then receiver Dohnte Meyers made a contested catch to make it first-and-goal from the three-yard line. On the next play, Harris found Nield in the end zone for what ended up being the game-winning touchdown.